African Union Chair SA Dlamini-Zuma vs China-Gabon Ping
Africa has always been ruled by men except in ancient times in Ethiopia with the Queen of Sheba, Queen Veronica Matamba of Angola and Queen Candace of Ethiopia so the idea of women in power is very much an African concept and there is nothing European or western about it to those who know their history.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is SADC’s choice to assume the position at the African Union must garner two thirds of the votes to get the post. Dlamini- Zuma ex-wife of South African President Jacob Zuma is a Medical doctor by profession from the University of Liverpool, U.K and activist is vying for this position which will be a first for an African woman.
“Most African women are viewing this election by asking the question whether women have a voice in African Political experience and on the broader world stage. Last month Nigerian born Ngozi Iweala-Okonjo lost the bid for the top job at the World Bank so we would like to see Dlamini-Zuma get this job at the AU”
Ella , Sena Mozambique
Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) is an economic trading bloc which is made up of the following countries:
- Angola
- Botswana
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mauritius
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Swaziland
- Tanzania
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- South Africa
- Seychelles
The incumbent Chinese,-Gabonese Jean Ping whose mother is Gabonese is contending for the position as well. Ping has a doctorate in Economics from the University of Paris and has the strong backing of the North and West African states. Some in the south have wondered if the Chinese also have a stake in seeing Ping return. Ping has strong ties to Chinese leadership and brought Hu Jintao to Gabon which opened the door to more Chinese investment in Africa. Is Ping ushering in Chinese imperialism and blocking the advancement of Africa through Dlamini-Zuma’s leadership.
2 Comments
by Anonymous
Ping is an African with Chinese ancestry this does not mean that he doesn’t have
Africa’s heart. So should we elect Dlamini-Zuma just because she is a woman?
Betsy Moyo
by Pan-Africanist Briefs
Hi Anonymous,
We desperately want Dr. Dlamini-Zuma to take up the mantle and Ping to go because he represents more of the same thing. Her being the first woman is only an extra. For so many years, Africans have been crying for a change in the way the African Union conducts its business. This change is essentially about how to break the virtual monopoly of the protégé of the the Elysée!
By her own formidable record as a militant against the the worst calamity that befell Africa in the past 500 years, the racist Apartheid regime, she can be trusted to stand on the behalf of Africa’s poor and over-exploited masses. Whether as a conduit for the penetration of the Chinese or the perpetuation of colonialist interests on the continent, Ping does not fit the bill!
We should take maximum advantage of this extraordinary conjunction of favourable historic, geopolitical factors of Teutonic dimensions and liberate our continent once and for all from the trammels of neo-colonialist cannons of conduct. The time has never been so opportune for Africa to rise to the occasion and take our destinies in our own hands, and finally rid the continent of imperialism, now masquerading under a new name -‘Globalisation’.
We are in a perfect position to do so now because African economies are booming, despite the global recession which is ravaging European and the USA economies. We are still fabulously rich in natural resources, as more and more natural resources are being discovered. We have a population of a billion people with a demography of young people compared to the ageing populations of most of the Of OECD countries. For a few years running, out of all the new discoveries of petroleum in the world, Africa accounts for 2/3rds. Our minerals gold, diamonds, It has been recently revealed that the oil in Somalia is comparable with the oil in Kuwait. Uganda is also sitting on oil comparable with Saudi Arabia. “According to geological estimates, the subsurface running from Darfur in what was southern Sudan through Chad into Cameroon is one giagantic oil field in extent perhaps equivalent to a new Saudi Arabia.” Writes, F. William Engdahl.
The stakes are very high. We must certainly be living in a very great moment of history of epochal dimensions. Symbolically, Portugal, the first European state to pave the way for the 500 years of domination, ends it with style. Those who understand the signals can read from the implications of the recent request from Portugal to Angola for financial aid. It is merely symbolic of the kind of power the continent can wield in our hands to redress our historic grievances about the Bretton Woods institutions, invasion of GM crops, land grabs, US Africa Command, climate change, the International Criminal Court, and so on. Africa is yet to rise to the occasion and follow her own way to freedom and social progress. What makes this urgent is because a new scramble for Africa, destined to leave its footprints on our fortunes for God knows how long! We are just emerging from 500 years of Western domination, and they are already fighting back to maintain the status quo and consolidate their powers and privileges.
This is why it matters very much who wins in this election. This is also why Ping must go! This is the basis for which we stick our neck out for Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma! If gold shall rust, what will iron do? Here is a woman who fought in the trenches with the likes of Steve Bantu Biko, and in the same organization! She is so good that she has even been credited by the opposition for bringing order and stamping out corruption in the famous South African Ministry of the Interior! We prefer her her to spearhead the change because we see the evidence of her capable and efficient hands.
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